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Accolades

Churches See Growth as Area's Population Swells

Kansas City Star, The (MO)
2006-09-20

Churches see growth as area's population swells
KAREN UHLENHUTH

SOUL Places for contemplation and worship provide for the community's spirit If a region has a soul, it probably resides in the contemplative spaces of its churches and other spiritual havens.

By that measure, the soul in eastern Jackson County and the Southland is disproportionately large -- and getting bigger all the time.

Two pillars surely are the denominational headquarters of Unity and the Community of Christ. But there's also an abundance of robust churches in a variety of denominations. Many have been putting up additions or new buildings to keep pace with the influx of new worshippers who keep pushing at the edges of the metropolis.

On Sunday, Holy Spirit Catholic Church will dedicate its new building at 1800 S.W. Missouri 150 in Lee's Summit. With an average growth rate of three families per week, the congregation decided the existing church -- located less than a mile down the road -- couldn't accommodate the burgeoning membership. About 1,300 families are now members.

The new church, with about twice the seating, is part of the ArborWalk development and is notable for its dramatic spire in stained glass. On Oct. 29, the worshippers at St. Matthew the Apostle Catholic church in southeast Kansas City will return to a sanctuary that was gutted and rearranged to provide more space. Changes include new pews and a new altar.

Change also is in the air at Unity's world headquarters in Lee's Summit. A new conference center that's been under construction for a year will open in October. It will feature 50 hotel rooms and a meeting room that accommodates 200 people. The new facility will incorporate some green-design features, such as ground-source heat, low-flow toilets and "bio-swales," depressions in the landscaping where water can collect until it can infiltrate the ground. By collecting the building's runoff, the swales will help to minimize flooding problems downstream.

In addition, much of the waste from the construction project was recycled, according to Tom Taylor, a spokesman for Unity.

The new conference center will be available for rent by groups outside of Unity. There was a major personnel shift at Unity recently, as well. Charlotte Shelton took over as president and chief executive officer July 5. Previously she chaired the management division of the Helzberg School of Management at Rockhurst University. She also has written a couple of books about business management and has taught management in Beijing during summer sessions. Shelton's vision, according to Taylor, is "to bring Unity current with the 21st century, and to try to reach new audiences and people."

Shelton has a personal connection with the Unity movement, having attended a Unity church for 30 years. In another personnel shift, the chapel at Unity Village hired a new minister, Rob Robinson. He assumed his duties early this year. Meanwhile, the Community of Christ international headquarters in Independence is in realignment mode. In June, the church announced that, to meet its shifting needs, it would eliminate about 80 jobs from its staff of about 400. The cuts should be completed by the end of the year, according to spokeswoman Susan Naylor.

The church is growing in some other regions, notably Africa and the Caribbean. To provide the needed translations and other services, the church is cutting some other ministry positions, as well as support staff at the headquarters. "We realized we were not working as efficiently as we could be," Naylor said. Many of the displaced employees are finding other positions within the church, Naylor said.

To reach Karen Uhlenhuth, call (816) 234-7813 or send e-mail to kuhlenhuth@kcstar.com. Photo

Strotherfest Launches this Weekend

Gale Communities Goes Above and Beyond with Erosion Controls

Protecting the Wetlands

By Matt Bird-Meyer
The Journal Staff

David Gale is a businessman.

He's a businessman who is well known for building hundreds of upscale houses in Lee's Summit. It is also no big secret that Gale has been recognized nationally for his sensitivity to the environment in developing Winterset Park.

Now Gale is taking it to the next level. His keen business sense and penchant for preserving the natural beauty of another area may soon translate into a national model as he installs a comprehensive erosion control and sediment runoff system before building any other piece of infrastructure at ArborWalk.

ArborWalk is a proposed 1,400-unit "workforce housing" subdivision, which includes a 347,000-square-foot retail sector, located in the area of Ward Road and M-150 in southwestern of Lee's Summit. Gale said the project's proximity to Raintree Lake, along with the fact that the property is already a wetland area, inspired him to go well above the minimum standards in addressing storm water runoff and erosion control.

"The downside is having the project shut down or losing the quality of the wetland area," Gale said. "It's in our financial best interest to see that it (the wetlands) is protected."

Gale is building five sediment basins to collect storm water runoff. The basins hold the water for at least seven days, giving the sediment time to fall out of the water and collect along the bottom of the basin.

Before the water even makes it to these basins, which are unique to the Kansas City area, the water runoff would pass through wood-chip berms from trees cleared from the land that Gale ordered chipped and spread along these berms to help strip off sediment before it reaches the basins.

So, Raintree Lake isn't the only body of water being protected. The existing pond located with the reserved 16 acres of park land, which Gale donated to the Lee's Summit Parks and Recreation Department, is being protected from sediment runoff as well.

Gale said Lee's Summit has experienced several significant storm water issues during the past five years that have negatively impacted local lakes, such as Legacy Park and Prairie Lee Lake.

In response, Gale hired who he felt were the most experienced and qualified engineers and contractors to install his erosion-control system at ArborWalk. Emery Sapp & Sons, which is building Tudor Road near Prairie Lee Lake, is clearing the land and building the erosion controls and road infrastructure at ArborWalk. Raymond Smalling, project manager at Archer Engineers, is designing the erosion and sediment runoff system.

Smalling has designed a unique set of sediment basins that includes "skimmers," a system that has only been used in one other project in Lenexa, he said. These are floating PVC pipe devices that draw the cleaner water off the top of the sediment pond. Should the water level rise too high, a larger, non-perforated riser pipe drains the water.

As an added control, Kevin Fryer, president of Emery Sapp & Sons, said he is required to seed the sediment basins, most of which will eventually be removed as the project takes shape. A total of 196 acres will be cleared in the first phase of development at ArborWalk.

And to ensure the water quality remains at an acceptable level, Gale has requested the installation of water quality monitoring units that work in conjunction with rain gauges.

"We will control the runoff and we will test it," Smalling said.

Joe Perry, project manager with Gale Communities, said ArborWalk is a 10-year plan. And to be a good neighbor, Perry said Gale is going above and beyond the minimum requirements.

Tom Jacobs, manager of environmental programs at the Mid America Regional Council, said Gale is a leading force in utilizing best practices as part of his work ethic.

"It's exactly in line with the new direction in erosion sediment controls in the region," Jacobs said. "It seems to me David is right at the head of the pack."

If the erosion control system at ArborWalk is as effective as Gale hopes, Jacobs said the project could serve as a benchmark for the American Public Works Association's initiative in revamping engineering standards and criteria to guide erosion sediment controls.

"He's clearly a leader, there's no question about it," Jacobs said.